Anti-Semitism in America

Sarah Imhoff writes about anti-Semitism in America. While scholars debate whether anti-Israel views can be considered anti-Semitism, prejudice against Jews remains strong in the United States.

An excerpt:

Along with continuing racial hatred and blame for Jesus’ death, stereotypes of the Shylock-type Jew, money-obsessed and controlling, still have robust support in the United States. In November…the Anti-Defamation League published its new poll on American anti-Semitism, concluding from its results that of 2,000 Americans randomly selected for the telephone poll, fifteen percent were “unquestionably anti-Semitic.” This number has been almost unchanged since 2002, along with the contents of the poll, which asked respondents to agree or disagree with some stereotypical accusations leveled against Jews. In addition to reconfirming the “killers of Christ” prejudice (twenty-seven percent agreed), the most anti-Semitic respondents sang another familiar tune: “Jews wield too much power in the business world,” “Jews have too much power in the US today,” and “Jews have too much control and influence on Wall Street” were the statements most likely to elicit agreement (sixty-seven to eighty-four percent).